Before I left for Italy, Zoila asked me to bring some books for the children so that they could read in English. Not having the slightest idea what type of story a three year old boy would like to read, I eventually wound up with a nice, short little story about a Big T-Rex.
Little did I know that T-Rexes would be Cesare's greatest fascination (aside from witches) during my three month stay in Italy. With each passing day, Cesare's passion for the great scaly creatures grows a little more intense, and I am constantly solicited to draw dinosaurs, play with dinosaurs, read about dinosaurs, or watch TV shows about dinosaurs. In fact, the only request Cesare made to Santa Clause this Christmas was for dinosaurs, especially a Big T-Rex! He was so convinced that dinosaurs would be his only Christmas gifts that when he opened a little Frankenstein monster on Christmas morning, he looked up at Mommy and Daddy and said, "This isn't for me. This is a mistake."
You must understand then that when I saw an advertisement in town for a dinosaur exhibit in a neighboring city, I knew we had to go. For the past few weeks, I've been patiently waiting for the opportunity to arise when all the family would be able to go and observe this exciting archaeological exhibition, and it finally came last week. I was very eager to go to this exhibit, not because I have some innate fascination with dinosaurs, but because there's something special and exhilarating about seeing a child's face light up in awe and wonder as he comes face to face with his most dreamed about, talked about, and thought about subject.
The Dinosaur Exhibit is located in Gubbio, another hilltop town about forty five minutes from Foligno. We packed into the car, bundled up in our coats, scarves, mittens, and hats, and set out on the exciting journey to the T-Rex. On the way, I learned about the famous Christmas tree in Gubbio, apparently the biggest in the world! I didn't quite understand what it was, but Zoila told me it had lights that covered the entire mountain, so it must be huge. When we finally arrived in Gubbio, I finally understood what she was talking about.
The Christmas tree is not actually a real tree. It is green Christmas lights in the shape of a Christmas tree, covering, as Zoila said, the entire mountain. We weren't sure when or where we would be able to see the tree, but driving up to the town we realized you could not miss it! The whole town of Gubbio lies in the shadow of this great mountain and beautiful Christmas tree, and it seemed to sprinkle a bit of "Christmas cheer" everywhere we went as we walked through the streets.
The dinosaur exhibit was in the main square of Gubbio and before I could even go in to see the exhibit, I had to stop and admire the medieval buildings and take a look at the incredible view of the city below. The sun had set and the whole earth seemed to be painted with a beautiful milky blue as the twilight crept in and took over the light.
Once I finally made it into the exhibit, I found myself to be delightfully surprised. Not only were the children fascinated with the dinosaurs, but I was too! I hadn't realized it beforehand, but I have never actually seen dinosaur bones before. Somewhere along the line, I had heard there was controversy over whether dinosaurs even existed, so in my mind I was somewhat skeptical of the reality and accuracy of these giant reptiles. I don't know how that false information made its way into my mind, but as soon as I saw all of the massive skeletons looming over me, I was convinced! Dinosaurs were definitely real, and they definitely were just like they are in the movies!
We continued on through the exhibit and I became more and more fascinated with the totality of the skeletons that archaeologists have found. Zoila kept pointing out to me that most of the fossils and bones were found in regions of the U.S., near Montana and Wyoming, and I was just shocked to think about dinosaurs walking on the same parts of the earth that I now live in, only who knows how many years earlier. Maybe I should have known all this information already, but I think we must have skipped the dinosaur unit in middle and high school science class, because I honestly have never learned anything about it.
The kids loved it too. The ran back and forth from one skeleton to another, pointing, ooo-ing and ahh-ing, thrilled by the reality of the bones and terrified by the monstrosity of the creatures. And Cesare's favorite part? You guessed it... the Big T-Rex with the big, sharp teeth!
There were no pictures allowed in the exhibit, so naturally we got several great shots of all our favorite things. I couldn't hide my camera as discreetly as Aurelio could, so he took most of the pictures on his iPhone, including this one:
Now do you see why I'm so fascinated?? This is real! They found this entire skull in one piece somewhere in Wyoming (or some place around there). I couldn't believe they actually have this much evidence of dinosaurs! I would love to tell you more about what I learned of the dinosaurs, but the exhibit was all in Italian, so the information that I gathered from it all was relatively brief. However, I did find that it was a very good exercise for practicing my Italian!
As we walked around looking at the ancient skeletons and animals on display, Zoila told me to look around at the building we were in. It was just as historical as the dinosaurs! The building is called Palazzo Ducale and I believe it used to be a palace for the royal family of Gubbio, so the inside carried marks of a medieval royal lifestyle. We made our way to the ground floor of the exhibit through a narrow passageway of stairs, just like a castle stairwell you'd see in the movies. The walls that the dinosaur bones were mounted on had evidence of inhabitants hundreds of years before. It was quite amazing to be observing a historical exhibit about dinosaurs in a such a historical location like an ancient palace. But that's what you get in Italy! :)
We left the exhibition and headed down the cobblestone streets back to our car. As we drove away, we admired the huge Christmas tree cheerfully perched above the town, watching it grow smaller and smaller until it was only a faint spot on the horizon.
